Arsenal through after marathon shoot-out

Arsenal 1 Rotherham 1 (after extra time Arsenal win 9-8 on penalties)

Sylvain Wiltord edged Arsenal home in a nail-biting penalty shoot-out as First Division Rotherham came within a whisker of a Carling Cup third round upset.

Jeremie Aliadiere had put Arsenal ahead after just 12 minutes but Darren Byfield struck with just 35 seconds of normal time remaining to force extra time.

Rotherham keeper Mike Pollitt was sent off for deliberate handball during the first extra period but as penalties became inevitable, both teams scored eight successful kicks, before Chris Swailes was denied by Graham Stack and Wiltord made no mistake.

With Arsene Wenger resting all of those who started last Sunday’s Barclaycard Premiership game at Charlton, he fielded an experimental line-up including four debutants.

Indeed, Spanish Under-17 international Francesc Fabregas – known Cesc – became the youngest player to represent the club at the tender age of just 16 years and 177 days.

There were still a handful of older heads around, however.

And it was one of those, French international Sylvain Wiltord, who provided the touch of class which opened up Rotherham’s defence.

His neat turn foxed the visitors back four and Kanu was just as composed as he slipped the ball sideways to the lurking figure of young Frenchman Jeremie Aliadiere, who converted with a minimum of fuss.

Rotherham, with a struggle on their hands near the bottom of the First Division table, could have wilted after such an early set-back.

Instead, they stuck manfully to their task and only an excellent diving save from debutant keeper Graham Stack kept out a flick by Darren Byfield.

Thereafter, Arsenal may have dominated possession, penning Rotherham back into their own half for long periods, but a lack of communication interrupted their build-up play.

Edu and full-back Justin Hoyte both powered long-range efforts just wide, but Rotherham refused to relax their clutches on the game.

Back came the determined visitors, with Stack again frustrating them as this time he rushed from his line to block at the feet of Byfield after the striker had burst clear.

Rotherham still had several nervous moments at the start of the second half, with Aliadiere hurtling through the centre only clip his shot narrowly wide, while Kanu was just denied by keeper Mike Pollitt.

However, while Wiltord and Cesc also flashed shots just wide, Arsenal still could not rest easily.

Indeed, the lively Byfield again brought the best out of Stack after outpacing Pascal Cygan as Rotherham upped their search for an equaliser.

Even though Arsenal appeared to be home and dry, the visitors refused to give up – and with 35 seconds of normal time remaining, they finally broke through.

Chris Sedgwick burst down the right flank and delivered a pin-point centre for Byfield to power home a close-range header to force extra time.

Rotherham’s task was magnified 11 minutes into extra time as goalkeeper Pollitt was sent off for deliberate handball just outside his penalty area.

Pollitt came racing out as Edu played the ball forward and he raised his arm to deny substitute Quincy Owusu-Abeyie as he lobbed the ball over him.

Pollitt had, amazingly enough, been sent off in similar circumstances at Crystal Palace under a fortnight ago, and substitute Gary Montgomery was again called upon as midfielder Sedgwick made way.

Montgomery was called upon to deny Edu’s curling free kick towards the end of extra time, while Wiltord had an effort ruled out for offside as the visitors managed to force a penalty shoot-out.

Chris Swailes gave Rotherham the initiative in the shoot-out, with Montgomery then rising to the occasion as he flung himself to his right to deny French international Wiltord.

Captain Martin McIntosh put Rotherham 2-1 up but Edu gave Arsenal some hope as he converted his spot kick before substitute John Mullin struck the outside of the post and Aliadiere levelled it up at 2-2. Rotherham’s Julian Baudet and Cygan both traded successful spot kicks before Byfield over-elaborated as he hesitated during his run-up and placed his kick against the face of the crossbar.

That left Owusu-Abeyie in pole position only for Montgomery to deny him with his legs.

Both sides then scored four successful kicks each before the goalkeepers became involved and Montgomery’s successful shot was followed by Stack also scoring.

With Rotherham starting all over again, Swailes rolled a lame effort that Stack saved easily before Wiltord made no mistake with the winning penalty.